This document discusses the importance of groundwater and aggregates to Waterloo Region's economy and water supply. It notes that Waterloo Region relies almost entirely on groundwater from aquifers, and extracts over 100 million litres per day. Aggregate extraction poses risks to these aquifers and the Grand River, which provides 25% of the region's water. The region has a large manufacturing and agricultural economy that depends on available water supplies. Protecting farmland and water resources is crucial for long-term economic and food security as global water and food crises emerge. Strengthening environmental assessments and accountability is needed to properly evaluate risks of aggregate extraction.

1. Waterloo Moraine & Risks of Aggregates to
Canada's GDP, water & food security.
By Louisette Lanteigne
butterflybluelu@rogers.com

2. Water + Aggregates = Aquifers
Water is the keystone of our economy!

3. Waterloo Region's Water Supply
The Regional Municipality of Waterloo is
Canada's largest municipality to rely almost
entirely on groundwater.
(75% wells, 25% the Grand River)
Over 100 interconnected wells are used to
supply drinking water to an ever growing
population of close to 1 million people that
reside in one of Ontario's main economic
growth areas.

4. Grand River's contribution to economy
- -Provides 25% of Waterloo Region's water and 100% of
the water supply for Brantford, Brent County and Six
Nations.
- The Grand supports the same gross national revenue as
the province of Nova Scotia. (State of the Grand River
Watershed, GRCA)
- Natural Heritage River contains 51% of Canada's native
fish species including threatened and endangered species
- River and tributaries support commercial fishing, tourism,
birding, boating, trails and recreational use
-Recharges Lake Erie and supports the economy related to
this resource.

5. Waterloo Region's economic contributions
Waterloo has a skilled and talented workforce of 282,300 (2010)
$19.5 billion GDP, with a 5.8% increase from 2009 to 2010 (2010)
Canada’s second most manufacturing intensive economy; 20% of our
employed population (2008)
Canada’s 10th and Ontario’s 4th largest urban area (2010)
One of Canada’s fastest growing communities, with a population of
543,700 people that is projected to reach 729,000 people by 2031
74,000 full-time post-secondary students, including 15,000 co-operative
education students
WATERLOO REGION PROFILE FOR 2011 -2014 STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS

6. Waterloo Region will lead the country in
economic growth
Strong manufacturing growth will give Waterloo Region
the highest economic growth in Canada among medium-
sized cities in 2012, says a new report from the
Conference Board of Canada.
The region’s gross domestic product will grow by 3.3 per
cent this year, down from 3.9 per cent in 2011, the board
said.
The KW Record: June 28, 2012

7. Economic Contributions cont.
University of Waterloo’s Schlegel-UW Research
Institute for Aging (including the Agri-Food for
Healthy Aging [A-HA] initiative)
Conestoga College’s Institute for Food Processing
Technology
Close proximity to the University of Guelph, a
leading agri-food research institution.

8. Waterloo Region's Agricultural industries
Waterloo is the second largest food belt in
Ontario: Total gross farm receipts in 2005
for all farms in Waterloo Region totalled
almost $400 million.
Agriculture represents the largest land use
activity in Waterloo Region
WATERLOO REGION PROFILE FOR 2011 -2014 STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS
.

9. Waterloo Agriculture Cont.
Although direct employment numbers on
the farm are minimal, the impact of our
access to agricultural land and product on
employment across the entire food industry,
from research, processing and end users is
enormous.
WATERLOO REGION PROFILE FOR 2011 -2014 STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS

10. LEADING FOOD COMPANIES IN WATERLOO
REGION (some examples, not exhaustive)
Schneider-Maple Leaf Foods - Kitchener meat processing since 1886 and
inventor of the official Oktoberfest Sausage
Dare Foods – Family owned since 1892
Frito Lay – One of North America's largest snack food companies
Weston Bakeries – Variety of fresh fresh, frozen frozen and speciality bakery
products
Pillers Sausages & Delicatessens – A 1957 butcher shop that evolved into one
of North America's Largest producers of sausages and deli meats
Elmira Poultry – One of Canada's largest meat suppliers since 1985
Tamming Foods LTD. – Sugar wafer products
DC Food Processing – Packer, private label batter, breaded chicken, fish, veal
and cheese

11. A View of Ontario's Farmlands
2011 Census of Agriculture
-Ontario has the biggest agricultural output
as measured by farm cash receipts, with
12.6 million acres in agricultural production,
just 5.6% of Ontario’s land base.
- Though Ontario has less than a quarter of
the farmland of either Saskatchewan or
Alberta, the combination of soil and climate
mean yields on Ontario farmland are often
double or more than that of the Prairies.

12. Farmlands in Ontario at risk
- Number of farms in Ontario dropped 9.2%
from 2006 to 2011
- The area farmed in the province fell 4.8%
from 2006 to 2011.

13. Aggregate Resource Act 1990
85% of Ontario's aggregates are
taken from Southern Ontario.

14. The reason for the decline of
Farms in Ontario.
“It’s subdivisions, it’s shopping malls, it’s
roads,” said Mark Wales, president of the
Ontario Federation of Agriculture. “We’re
developing good farmland that in the long
run will not be available to grow food, fibre
and fuel for the world.”.

16. Food vs. Aggregates: Jobs
Source:Liberal MP Leeanna Pendergast press release titled
“Lets put pits in their place”, June 21, 2011.
Aggregates employ
35000 people directly
and indirectly
including 3.2 billion
GDP and 1.8 million in
Labour income.
Canadian Agriculture
and Agri-food sectors
(2008) employ 2.2
million jobs. (one in 8
jobs in Canada.) and
generates 99 Billion
GDP. 8.1% of
Canada's total GDP.

17. Mark Wales, president of
Ontario Federation of Agriculture states:
“Canada is expected to be one of
only six countries in the world to
be a net exporter of food.”
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2012/06/04/19836431.html

18. Global water & food crisis due to declining aquifers
World's largest aquifer going dry
The Ogallala aquifer is the world's largest
underground water system, irrigating one-
third of the US corn crops and providing
drinking water to Colorado, Kansas,
Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South
Dakota, Texas and Wyoming. It’s one of
the fastest-disappearing aquifers in the
world and the water is not coming back.
( Associated Press)
China's north that produces food for 400
million people is running out of water
because they are depleting the
underground aquifers.
Thomas Fingar, chairman and deputy director
US National IntelligenceCouncil and
The failure of governments to limit pumping to
the sustainable yield of aquifers means that
water tables are now falling in countries that
contain more than half the world's people,
including the big three grain producers--China,
India, and the United States.
Lester R. Brown,Earth Policy Institute, Washington D.C.

19. Agricultural lands WITH WATER are in high demand.
• Countries such as China, Korea and the United Arab Emirates are buying or leasing agricultural land to help
meet their own food needs.
The International Food Policy Research Institute
• The World Bank estimates that demand for food will rise by 50 percent by 2030.
The National Intelligence Council’s Global Trends 2025
• Global Economist project that agricultural lands will surpass the value of development lands in the near
future due to rising oil production costs, population increases, higher standard of living, water shortages climate
change and drought.
First photo: China, Second Photo: The US Third: Waterloo Ontario

20. Less water = higher contamination risks
• On September 11, 2007 a report from the Natural Resources Defense
Council, confirms high levels of Atrazine in Midwest drinking water supplies.
• The U.S. EPA, data shows raised Atrazine levels in 94 of 136 water
systems tested at the source.
http://www.environmental-expert.com/resultEachPressRelease.aspx?cid=4797&codi=19443&lr=1
What impact will the aggregate extractions have in augmenting existing
water levels currently diluting concentration of pesticides, industrial spills
and water contamination in Waterloo Region?

21. Contamination Issues in Waterloo Region

Effluent: 29 waste water plants drain effluent into the Grand
River

Animal wastes: 290,000 cows in the Grand River Watershed
produce waste = five million people.

Leaky Landfills: The Greenbrook well contaminated by 1,4
dioxane, Middleton Wells in Cambridge at risk too. Waterloo's
Landfill is leaking vinyl chloride.

Industrial waste: Elmira had contamination of NDMA
(nitrosodimethylamine) from Unroyal/Chemtura. Elmira lost it's
groundwater supply.

In Cambridge, North Star was sued for trichloroethylene (TCE)
contamination.

22. Contamination Issues in Waterloo Region

Effluent: 29 waste water plants drain effluent into the Grand
River

Animal wastes: 290,000 cows in the Grand River Watershed
produce waste = five million people.

Leaky Landfills: The Greenbrook well contaminated by 1,4
dioxane, Middleton Wells in Cambridge at risk too. Waterloo's
Landfill is leaking vinyl chloride.

Industrial waste: Elmira had contamination of NDMA
(nitrosodimethylamine) from Unroyal/Chemtura. Elmira lost it's
groundwater supply.

In Cambridge, North Star was sued for trichloroethylene (TCE)
contamination.

23. Challenges in Protecting it

Provincial Growth Targets may exceed carrying capacity of
the Grand River and deplete the moraine.

Gravel projects place the moraine and Grand River at risk.

Today's policies cannot be grandfathered so older plans
approved years back don't have to comply to today's laws.
They pose a risk.

We don't know how much water we have. Our knowledge
of ground water volumes is limited to pre-development
studies. .

24. How much is 1% of the Waterloo Region's
Water Supply in terms of basic water costs?
(*Not counting it's function for industrial or
agricultural use.)
.

25. 1% of the Waterloo Region's water,
at 1 cent per litre = $18,184 per day,
Annually: $6,637,160
Source: Expert data as used in EBR request for Review for a Waterloo Moraine Protection Act

26. The yellow zone gathers 75% of the water used
in Waterloo Region.

27. Development Encroaching!

28. Gravel Pits encroaching!

29. Price the value the natural capital worth of
aggregates left In place!
- Aggregates provide water and
farmland used for municipal, industrial
and agricultural use.
- We need to protect aquifer connectivity
from source to wells to secure water
supplies and the economic systems
dependent on them stay viable for the
long term.

30. What needs to be addressed
The technology, laws, regulations, and
practices to preventing adverse impacts of
aggregate extractions lag behind the real
risks and associated costs.

31. Weakness of current policies
- Prices to extract virgin non renewable
aggregates are far too cheap to support
recycling schemes and the need is there to
mandate minimum use of recycled
materials by government and municipalities
better promote conservation efforts while
offsetting landfill wastes.

32. Mandate reasonable
Environmental Assessments
- Currently EA's are not mandated for
Aggregate extractions without ministry
intervention and when EA processes do
happen, test times, methods and units of
measurements are not mandated to meet
any reasonable scientific criteria to assure
non biased data.

33. Example: Highland Mega Quarry
http://www.highlandcompanies.ca/index.php/companies/melancthonquarry/
- Outdated bore hole data taken from 1945
- Lack of 12 month creek studies, seasonal variants
- Water quality data based on residential well tests: not for quarry
risks.
- ”Peak over the fence” surface water data
- MODFLOW program was used. (Highly Subjective & hard to
repeat results using very “bad” baseline data)
- MODFLOW lacks regard to localized geology, sediment types
and assumes aquifers are self contained without cross
jurisdictional impacts.
- Bore Hole info in outwash moraines isn't enough. (Ground
Penetrating Radar needed etc.)

34. Problems with engineering firms.
Engineering firms are not held liable for their work in
creating environmental impact studies after they've
signed off on it. The risk transfers to the firm who
purchased their data. . If issues arise due to poor
environmental studies, they are not held liable for any
of the the work they did.
Firms like this stand to profit from remediation if
things do go wrong. There is no reasonable incentive
for engineering firms to do a good honest job to
prevent long term risks.
No accountability means no guarantee of good work!

35. Modflow has it's flaws
so back it up with further data.
Many hydrology firms use Modflow programs to study
aquifers but the program assumes aquifers are self
contained and this poses a risk.
Data input is often subjective which is why mandatory
testing standards and methods are needed to clarify
processes to explain where the numbers came from
and how they came to the results. Make sure the data
being used is current.
Modflow works better when supported with localized
geological data including sediment type to better
understand actual hydrological connectivity.

36. Highland Mega Quarry and Waterloo Region is
built over Karst. The risks of aggregate
extraction in these areas are many.

37. Potential Environmental Impacts of Quarrying Stone in Karst
A Literature Review by the USGS
pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/ofr-01-0484/ofr-01-0484so.pdf

38. Topography isn't enough to delineate
watersheds or prevent water risks.
(cross section of the Waterloo Moriane)

39. What goes in the ground will head to wells with draw down effects
regardless of topography. Professor Mike Stone: chloride loadings to
Waterloo Regional wells reveals this fact.

40. If aggregate extractions deplete Waterloo's
Aquifers: what are the associated costs?.

41. Cost for a Lake Erie Pipeline
- Cost: $1.2 billion (2008)
- does not include
treatment or
transportation costs
- Does not include cost
to upgrade intake
facilities.
- Water delivered uphill
- The Grand River would
be “infrastructure” and
lose heritage status.

42. Cost for a Lake Erie Pipeline
- Does not include
increased minimum
wage increases since
2008.
-Does not include
increased cost
increases: Due to tar
sands demand, steel is
up 66% .
- How much would water
costs increase?

43. Lake Erie:Under Stress
Toxic Algae Issues
Growing “Dead Zone”
Declining water volumes
Contamination issues
Climate Change
Zebra Mussel blocks intake
Invasive species
Canadian and US water
taking
Bulk Water Shipments

44. Zebra Mussels in intake pipe
ar

45. Lake Erie March 12, 2012
Will it even be drinkable?

46. Protect our A1 Farmlands and source
water areas for generations to come

47. Conserve & Recycle Aggregates
(bricks made from human sludge!)

48. Protect the function of Aggregates
Aggregates = Water Supplies

49. Mandate test times and methods
& hold engineering firms accountable.

50. To protect communities and the economy, realistically
assess the monetary risks of aggregate extraction and let
us make long term source water protection and food
security the highest priority!